Current:Home > BackArmenia accuses Azerbaijan of "ethnic cleansing" in Nagorno-Karabakh region as 65,000 "forcefully displaced"-LoTradeCoin
Armenia accuses Azerbaijan of "ethnic cleansing" in Nagorno-Karabakh region as 65,000 "forcefully displaced"
View Date:2024-12-23 16:39:56
Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan accused neighboring Azerbaijan on Thursday of "ethnic cleansing" as tens of thousands of people fled the Azerbaijani region of Nagorno-Karabakh into Armenia. Pashinyan predicted that all ethnic Armenians would flee the region in "the coming days" amid an ongoing Azerbaijani military operation there.
"Our analysis shows that in the coming days there will be no Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh," Pashinyan told his cabinet members on Thursday, according to the French news agency AFP. "This is an act of ethnic cleansing of which we were warning the international community for a long time."
Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but it has been populated and run by ethnic Armenian separatists for several decades. About a week ago, Azerbaijan launched a lightning military offensive to bring the breakaway region — home to fewer than 150,000 people before the exodus began — fully under its control.
Over the last week, amid what Azerbaijan calls "anti-terrorist" operations in Nagorno-Karabakh, tens of thousands of people have fled to Armenia. Armenian government spokeswoman Nazeli Baghdasaryan said in a statement that some "65,036 forcefully displaced persons" had crossed into Armenia from the region by Thursday morning, according to AFP.
Some of the ethnic Armenian residents have said they had only minutes to decide to pack up their things and abandon their homes to join the exodus down the only road into neighboring Armenia.
"We ran away to survive," an elderly woman holding her granddaughter told the Reuters news agency. "It was horrible, children were hungry and crying."
Samantha Powers, the head of the U.S. government's primary aid agency, was in Armenia this week and announced that the U.S. government would provide $11.5 million worth of assistance.
"It is absolutely critical that independent monitors, as well as humanitarian organizations, get access to the people in Nagorno-Karabakh who still have dire needs," she said, adding that "there are injured civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh who need to be evacuated and it is absolutely essential that evacuation be facilitated by the government of Azerbaijan."
The conflict between the Armenian separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan had simmered for years, but after the recent invasion was launched, the separatists agreed to lay down their arms, leaving the future of their region and their people shrouded in uncertainty.
- In:
- Armenia
- Azerbaijan
- ethnic cleansing
Chris Livesay is a CBS News foreign correspondent based in Rome.
TwitterveryGood! (27)
Related
- A growing and aging population is forcing Texas counties to seek state EMS funding
- What Is Permitting Reform? Here’s a Primer on the Drive to Fast Track Energy Projects—Both Clean and Fossil Fuel
- Jamie Foxx addresses hospitalization for the first time: I went to hell and back
- Senator’s Bill Would Fine Texans for Multiple Environmental Complaints That Don’t Lead to Enforcement
- Wicked's Ethan Slater Shares How Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo Set the Tone on Set
- Save 44% On the Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara and Everyone Will Wonder if You Got Lash Extensions
- Vanderpump Rules' Ariana Madix and Tom Sandoval Spotted Filming Season 11 Together After Scandal
- Environmental Auditors Approve Green Labels for Products Linked to Deforestation and Authoritarian Regimes
- Kraft Heinz stops serving school-designed Lunchables because of low demand
- Do Solar Farms Lower Property Values? A New Study Has Some Answers
Ranking
- Inter Miami's MLS playoff failure sets stage for Messi's last act, Alexi Lalas says
- Community Solar Is About to Get a Surge in Federal Funding. So What Is Community Solar?
- Striking actors and studios fight over control of performers' digital replicas
- Save 30% on the TikTok-Loved Grande Cosmetics Lash Serum With 29,900+ 5-Star Reviews on Prime Day 2023
- Disney x Lululemon Limited-Edition Collection: Shop Before It Sells Out
- These Small- and Medium-Sized States Punch Above Their Weight in Renewable Energy Generation
- Drowning Deaths Last Summer From Flooding in Eastern Kentucky’s Coal Country Linked to Poor Strip-Mine Reclamation
- What Is Permitting Reform? Here’s a Primer on the Drive to Fast Track Energy Projects—Both Clean and Fossil Fuel
Recommendation
-
Does your dog have arthritis? A lot of them do. But treatment can be tricky
-
In Pennsylvania, Home to the Nation’s First Oil Well, Environmental Activists Stage a ‘People’s Filibuster’ at the Bustling State Capitol
-
UN Water Conference Highlights a Stubborn Shortage of Global Action
-
Shawn Johnson Weighs In On Her Cringe AF Secret Life of the American Teenager Cameo
-
Horoscopes Today, November 11, 2024
-
A Rare Plant Got Endangered Species Protection This Week, but Already Faces Threats to Its Habitat
-
These 8 habits could add up to 24 years to your life, study finds
-
Selena Quintanilla's Husband Chris Perez Reunites With Her Family After Resolving Legal Dispute